Lease Your Vacant Land for a Solar Farm
Landowners across the country are discovering the advantages of leasing their rural land for solar farm development. If you have rural land that is not being farmed or is not appealing to developers, leasing your land for a solar farm can provide you with a dependable source of income. Landowners typically receive payments of several hundred dollars per acre annually, and leases can be signed for 20 years or more. This could be the pension plan you never thought you’d have!
Harvest a new crop on your land: solar energy
A lucrative new crop is being harvested in rural America and it isn’t a fruit or vegetable; it’s the sun! The popularity of solar farms is increasing and often it has nothing to do with green energy or environmental concerns. For many, it’s mostly financial. Rowland, North Carolina farmer Billy Dean Hunt is a 63 year old Marine Corps veteran leased a 35-acre field for a solar farm. “It is guaranteed money. Farming is a risky business. If you can take some of the risk out and the liability, you are ahead of the ball game. If I die, my wife will have income because she couldn’t farm the land anymore”, Hunt told reporters.
Along with turning a non-earning asset into a consistent source of revenue, a solar farm is a friendly neighbor. It’s quiet, doesn’t emit any noxious odors or dangerous emissions, doesn’t pollute the air or water and doesn’t pose any health risks. All it does is generate large quantities of clean energy and a sustainable income.
SolarCollab has developed a series of resources designed to help landowners make informed decisions about their land, and to promote business practices that are mutually beneficial to both landowners and project developers. Additional resource chapters concerning a solar land lease:
- Introduction
- North Carolina’s #2 for Solar Farms – About 100 solar farms have registered to open since 2007, according to the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, a group that tracks the solar energy business. Learn how solar farm development has propelled North Carolina to the top of national solar rankings.
- South Carolina’s First Solar Farm – Discover how this 6 MW solar farm in Colleton County roughly doubled the amount of solar generated in South Carolina.
- Solar Land Site Assessment – This chapter covers all the critical elements that need to be assessed to determine if your land is right for solar energy development.
- Solar Land Site Access – Reliable roads that provide easy access to the solar land site is especially important during the construction phase to accommodate vehicles carrying supplies and equipment.
- Not In My Backyard NIMBY – A small handful of uninformed citizens can and have derailed solar farm projects. This chapter explains how to identify and avoid potential NIMBY issues regarding solar projects.
- How Do I Make Money? – This chapter examines how solar land lease agreements work and all of the factors a landowner should take into consideration before they sign a solar development land lease agreement.
- Land Lease Essentials – Prior to seeking legal or land planning advice, there are a few elements property owners can look for in leases to ensure they are dealing with a reputable developer and/or reaping the full benefits of the deal.
- Decommissioning Your Solar Farm – This chapter provides an overview of the activities involved in decommissioning a solar farm. The decommissioning phase includes disconnection of the array from the electrical grid and removal of all system components from the site.
Leasing your land for a solar farm is a benefit to the entire community
A solar farm provides benefits to all those involved in the project and even those who are not directly involved. The land owner benefits from several years of annual lease payments, local government benefits from increased property tax revenue, the state benefits from the taxes paid by project investors and the local community benefits from jobs, increased spending at local businesses and the production of clean energy.
Collaboration Enhances Expertise!